A victim boy exploited by women, ‘Juze’ is a real story: Miransha

RUCHA PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI | 08 April 2018 16:44 IST

After being screened at several international film festivals in Hong Kong, Europe, Mumbai and Goa IFFI and getting accolades from the film critics worldwide, Juze, a Konkani film by Miransha Naik, is finallly getting released in Goa on 13th April in Margao and 16th April in Panaji.

Juze tells the story of a migrant boy, Santosh and how he and the other migrants are exploited and abused by the landlord, Juze.

A brief interview of young director Miransha Naik, who has directed this first feature film after his equally appreciated short film Ram in 2014. Juze is an Indian-French-Dutch co-production which was selected at IFFI Film Bazar for international sales by Film Boutique.

How did you come up with the story?

This story is inspired by real events and characters, a lot of which is inspired by my real experiences and observations.

Why did you name the movie after the villain?

First of all, I always thought the name sounded good and nobody has used it before. But at the same time, if you see the movie you will notice that all the events taking place revolve around Juze. Even though the story is about Santosh’s journey, for me it is also about the downfall of Juze which made me write this story.

The characterisation in this film is done really well. How did you build the characters? Were they inspired by people you came across in real life?

Yes, some of them. But not all the people carry the traits to create drama, so you have to put traits of two or three people into one character.

When people talk about rape or molestation they show women as the victims and men as the accused. In your movie you have shown women as accused and a boy as the victim.

There must be some films that have covered this aspect. But this does not mean that these things do not happen, everything comes from what you know. It doesn’t have to happen to me but I definitely know these things happen. Especially if you are a kid and helpless like Santosh, these things are bound to be taken advantage of. I wasn’t trying to make a point or anything, it is just another reality I had witnessed and thought it fit for a film story.

What made you make such a bold movie? Especially in a place like Goa where this has not been done before.

Again as I said, the whole story comes from my village. I just wanted to tell the story of the village. I didn’t want to hide anything. I just added whatever I thought was interesting and could be made into a good screenplay.

Having gained acclaim for the both the films you’ve made, what would you say is the key to seeking a larger audience, in terms of content as well as marketing?

I don’t want to think about the marketing part, even though I should. For me it is important to just stick to the concept which excites me. When I write, I don’t think about how much money it will make or if it will have a wider audience. When I have a concept or story, I try to write a screenplay which is engaging throughout and that is what I try and do.

Some people are saying that some of the scenes in the movie could have been avoided. What is your opinion on this?

This is the first time I’m hearing of this. It is not like I wasn’t expecting this, but because I have shown this I think it has a better impact. It is about Santosh’s struggle and not only the beatings he gets from Juze but all the other experiences. So yes, that way I could have avoided making this movie.

What do you think is the most important part of a film?

Everything is important but if you don’t have a script, you don’t have anything. It all starts with the script.

Lastly, what advice do you have for young Goan filmmakers?

We have such a small market. We don’t always get the luxury of investing in equipment and have a small budget. But what we can always do is spend as much time as possible on the script. I think if you have a good script you can make a decent film. It is also good to have the other stuff also. But when you don’t, the best you can do is make your script stronger and stronger.